Your Monthly Crystal Horoscope: Healing Gemstones for August

July 28, 2018/

This month’s crystal horoscopes teach you how to tap into the courageous nature of Leo. By working with the healing powers of crystals and precious gemstones, you can hone the leadership qualities of the proud Lion and embrace your fierceness.

Crystals and Astrology:

Every planet and star sign has corresponding crystals that share their energetic resonance. . Consciously working with crystals and gemstones that correlate with the energy of each astrological season can benefit the mind, body and spirit. As crystals form within the earth, rocks and minerals are in a constant process of transformation: creation, change and dissolution. The zodiac reflects this process from the spark of the birth of Aries (the first sign of the zodiac), the growth through the signs, and the completion and undoing in Pisces (the twelfth sign).

The Leo Resonance:

This year, the Sun is in Leo from July 22-August 22, shifting our focus to the fearlessness of the Lion’s domain. Ruled by the ego-driven Sun, Leo represents the first appearance of a fully developed sense of identity. The transition from introspective, watery, lunar-ruled Cancer to interdependent, fiery, solar-ruled Leo, marks the fifth stage of human evolution: we know who we are and shine brightly, but now are being called to examine how we relate ourselves to others.

Fixed signs occur in the middle of a season. Leo season marks the midpoint of summer; the hottest time of the year in the northern hemisphere. August turn up: activated! The fixed modality of Leo is about sustaining and maintaining the identities we have cultivated up to this point in our evolution. Leo is concerned with self-worth, the heart space, and the universal desire to be special and unique. The fire element of Leo is expressed with largesse: it is intense, forceful, and wants to express itself freely above all else.

Just as new habits take about a month to become ingrained, working with a crystal for several weeks helps your body to integrate the new vibration in conjunction with the stone. Working with the 28-day moon cycles is ideal, especially for women. Or you could start working with a new stone at the beginning of the month, or the start of a zodiac season—or of course, whenever it feels intuitively right.

Healing Crystals for Leo Season (July 22-August 22)

Crystals form when liquid magma from the earth’s core moves toward the surface, cools down to solidify, then crystallizes over millions of years.

Tiger’s eye and citrine are the two crystals I recommend for Leo season, for those with prominent Leo placements in their natal charts, and for those who want to tap into their Leonine energy any time of year. Both tiger’s eye and citrine are classified as quartz-based minerals. They both have a trigonal crystalline structure, which means that their inner molecular formation is triangular.

Trigonal crystals represent the beautiful simplicity of life. Pragmatic and realistic, this energy signature lends itself to the notion of minimal effort of maximum success. Trigonal energy recognizes the path of least resistance, and desires to eliminate complications.

Much like the sign of Leo, the trigonal approach to life has a lot of common sense, but there may be a tendency to settle into a quiet type of egoism, where one’s own well-being rules the forefront, and the responsibility to our fellow humans becomes superficial or worse, indifferent. The integration of this potential apathy requires harmony—combining actions and thoughts with understanding and feeling.

Properties of Healing Crystals

Tiger’s Eye:

The most popular traditional crystal birthstone for Leo is Tiger’s eye, which is a radiant, banded golden-yellow mineral that reflects the light of the Sun. You can also find red and blue variations of this luminescent stone. Tiger’s eye has a fiercely protective energy and is a master tool for manifestation and unblocking creative abilities.

Whereas lunar energy represents your subconscious self and your natural emotional function, solar energy is the outer you; your personality and who you are learning to be in this lifetime.

As we strive toward a higher expression of our best selves, tiger’s eye helps us retain a higher perspective in difficult, complicated situations, and encourages us to make clearer choices even in moments of doubt and confusion.

Physiologically, Leo rules the heart, the circulatory system, and the lower back. Solar-ruled people are dynamic and energetic, and back pain can be a manifestation stress or sexual frustration. Thankfully, tiger’s eye has a pain-relieving effect and slows down the flow of energy in the body. It is said to help bring over-excited nerves to a level state of calm, and can assist when the adrenal glands become overstimulated. It helps to temper personality disorders, prevent hypochondria-based worry about one’s health, and also to dissolve creative blockages.

Because of this sedating effect, tiger’s eye only need be worn for about a week at a time, tops, or simply used in meditation.

Citrine:

Sunny citrine is the antidote to depression, bringing joy and abundance to the heartspace. Even introverted Leos love to express themselves, and citrine is a beautiful tool to free oneself from any oppressive influences or the fear of judgment.

This yellow version of quartz crystal gets its golden color from the presence of iron and ionizing radiation during its formation. As a mineral of primary formation, citrine resonates to the tune of fresh beginnings, purity of heart, and the discovery of one’s own individuality.

Physically, citrine is said to stimulate digestion by promoting the workings of the stomach, spleen and pancreas. Like tiger’s eye, citrine also helps to fortify the nerves, but has more of a warming effect. It increases circulation, enhances metabolic functions, and is also said to improve the immune system

As a form of quartz, citrine is pure and non-toxic and can be worn directly on the skin for as long as desired, perhaps as a piece of wrapped or bezeled jewelry. Citrine can be used internally as a yoni egg, and is also safe to make an ingestible or topical gem elixir. Learn how to make crystal fire water at my Age of Eleven: DecodingTheAll 11:11 Blog.

Metaphysical Properties

Tiger’s Eye:

Leo pride is real, and the fixed fire energy of this sign can lead to mental conflicts with self and others that may jeopardize courage. Just like the cowardly lion from the land of Oz who was looking for a heart — follow the yellow [tiger’s eye-paved] road! Tiger’s eye is a good companion through tough times and can help reignite bravery and the power to trust one’s self.

In moments when external influences come storming in, tiger’s eye assists in mitigating the moods during stressful situations, while preserving that sunny spark of trust in the self-correcting, always perfecting universe.

When Leo energy is in full effect, it can be hard to shift or change the leader of the jungle. Tiger’s eye teaches you to use your power wisely–not to seek control over others, but to turn that inward, be self-empowered, and lead by example instead of manipulation. The stone’s grounding effect brings humility, balances yin/yang energy, eases stubbornness, and promotes a more productive manifestation of your strong will.

Evolved Leo energy teaches us that there is nothing wrong with admitting your faults and shortcomings. Heart-centered vulnerability is the prime indicator of actual strength, and tiger’s eye helps to support authentic integrity.

Citrine:

Leo energy presents as self-confident, but in truth, that image often masks a deep insecurity and fear of not being seen as competent enough. Leo loves the limelight, but when their dignity is challenged, the lion may retreat to lick its wounds and become cold and standoffish. Citrine helps temper that sensitivity and laugh at our own delusions of grandeur. It stimulates the desire for self-realization, and activates the ability to confront and help ourselves, instead of projecting all our nonsense onto others and playing the blame game.

Citrine encourages an abundance mentality, and is even the suggested stone for merchants to keep in or near cash registers to watch the money flow!

Often, we carry baggage that might not even be ours. Citrine is key in transforming pain, both emotional and inherited. As Leo is that fixed fire, citrine brings the gift of adaptability, allowing us to release extreme attachment to outcome and shifting beliefs that life must occur in a particular way.

How to Cleanse and Program Crystals

Crystals are largely comprised of silicon dioxide (SiO2), which is the material used in watches for timekeeping and silicon computer memory chips for storing large quantities of information. Thus, crystals are inherently programmable, and you can set your intentions for what you would like to work through with your stone.

Before working with any crystal, it’s a good practice to smudge (or energetically cleanse) the stone by passing it through the smoke of a purifying type of incense such as white sage, Palo Santo, or frankincense and myrrh. Just as white sage is used to bless and clear a new home, smudging crystals neutralizes any previous energetic imprints in the stone.

To program your crystal, sit upright comfortably with your stone in your left hand, and place your right hand over the crystal. Take three deep breaths with the intention of attuning with the crystal’s vibration, and state your intentions either in your head, or spoken aloud. Sample intentions are offered below.

Meditation, Intentions and Affirmations with Crystals for Leo Season
Meditating with crystals during Leo season can help us attune to our true sense of self-worth.

I recommend writing down the affirmations below with pen on paper, keeping them beside you as you meditate. Feel free to add your own Leo themes as you see fit. If you find it challenging to quiet your thoughts as you sit in silence, there are many meditation apps available, such as the Calm app or Headspace. Or, you can search for crystal singing bowl meditation tones or binaural beats on YouTube such as these:

Here are some techniques to increase abundance in all areas of life with citrine. You can find radiant, juicy pieces of raw and tumbled citrine individually and in full chakra kit sets at the Age of Eleven metaphysical crystal boutique:

Meditate laying down with a piece of citrine over your heart chakra.
Keep a small piece of tumbled citrine in your wallet or coin purse to magnetize more currency toward you.
Write your desires on a small piece of parchment paper, put it in a silk bag of citrine, and sleep with that pouch under your pillow.
Energize the “wealth area” in your home or office using Feng Shui. Just like sidereal (eastern) and tropical (western) astrology, there are multiple approaches to Feng Shui.
Using the classical eastern approach, the wealth area is the most southeast corner of your space. In the western approach, imagine looking a blueprint floor plan of your home. The topmost upper left area on the floor plan is your wealth corner. Depending on the layout of your house, your wealth corner may be the same for both eastern and western Feng Shui! Choose which location feels best to you, and place a piece of citrine in that area. If the crystal can receive sunlight through windows, even better!

Heart-Centered Tiger’s Eye Meditation and Journaling

All the world’s a stage for Leo energy. How do you show up in character?

Sit upright with a piece of tiger’s eye in your lap or near your root chakra, which pertains to your source of power and grounding.

Take some time to meditate on the many roles you play in your life. Do they truly bring you deep satisfaction? What parts of you are overcompensating for your feelings of inadequacy? Do you struggle with commitments or serving others, or perhaps you sabotage relationships due to perceived unworthiness? Are there any connections you have that cause you to show up as less than 100% authentic?

After your meditation, take some time to journal about the Leo energy in your life and how you relate to it and your heart chakra.

My book, The Yoni Egg Shadow Integration Workbook, has daily journaling exercises for introspection and self-reflection. Each day focuses on a particular chakra or zodiac sign and its corresponding house. The following questions are excerpted from the Day 15: The Heart Chakra chapter of the YES I Workbook, which you can preview and order at my website.

How do you feel about the people in your vicinity? Think about home, work, society; where might you feel hurt, jealous, bitter, or mistrustful?
Think of one challenging relationship you struggle to reconcile. How can you realign in a manner empowering to you? (Example: “I cannot fix my toxic mother’s problems, but I can mother my own inner child with the love I need, and nurture others and my own child[ren].”)
What three things can you do to cultivate and receive love? Start with self.
Make a concerted choice to eliminate beliefs and shift relationships that are not in alignment with your highest expression of self. You will be amazed at just how well the world gets in formation the more you get clear on who you truly are, which is nothing less than a unique, individual expression of spirit.

The truth shall set you free.

As you move through the complexity of your heart’s emotions during Leo season, try to remember that compassion toward yourself is just as important as compassion toward others. Remember the presence of your spiritual self, and know that you can always trust in the universe.

This information should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health condition or disease and is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or healthcare provider.